Rick Riordan Quotes

I'm really trying to focus on the storytelling, more so than ever before I think, partly because it makes for easier pages.

Too many writers think that all you need to do is write well-but that's only part of what a good book is. Above all, a good book tells a good story. Focus on the story first. Ask yourself, 'Will other people find this story so interesting that they will tell others about it?' Remember: A bestselling book usually follows a simple rule, 'It's a wonderful story, wonderfully told'; not, 'It's a wonderfully told story.'

I think when I write movies and plays and books and magazine articles, they're all storytelling, and reality is the common denominator that binds them.

The story is the only thing that's important. Everything else will take care of itself. It's like what bowlers say. You hear writers talk about character or theme or mood or mode or tense or person. But bowlers say, if you make the spares, the strikes will take care of themselves. If you can tell a story, everything else becomes possible. But without story, nothing is possible, because nobody wants to hear about your sensitive characters if there's nothing happening in the story. And the same is true with mood. Story is the only thing that's important.

Every story teaches you how to write that story but not the next story.

With short stories, the story-teller must have a story to tell, not merely some sweet prose to take out for a walk

I have always argued, in a good novel, interesting things happen to interesting people.

There's a lot for screenwriters to steal from songwriters, in terms of getting to the point.

I learnt to love reading. And then I started scribbling stories, and I liked that even more.

People who actually tell stories, meaning people who write novels and make feature films, don't see themselves as storytellers.

I've tried to write deep and serious. I spent years working to write a story that would make my writing group cry.

Each book first begins with a little idea.

I don't really have a drive toward being a director at all. Not that I wouldn't rule it out, but I just don't think my instincts lie necessarily in a very visual way. But I am very interested in storytelling, narrative and character development, so writing is something that I absolutely want to do.

How many times can you put together 26 different stories without running out?

I'm hoping to get started on a new novel.

I write where I can see things happen, and then things get glued together. I do have the final scene, but that really is an epilogue. It's not part of the plot.

My only conclusion about structure is that nothing works if you don't have interesting characters and a good story to tell.

I'd like to know what I could do if I really had the time to spend on writing a book, with no columns or shows to do at the same time.

I just read the script; everything else just follows. Content is the most important thing for me.

It's one thing to narrate a story and another thing to execute it.

When well told, a story captured the subtle movement of change. If a novel was a map of a country, a story was the bright silver pin that marked the crossroads.

I enjoy both TV writing and novel writing, and they are very similar. The goal is to entertain and amuse the audience, and I subscribe to this P.G. Wodehouse piece of advice: "Try to give pleasure with every sentence."

If nobody is looking for a story, and I have no reason to write a story, I would really much rather to do anything else because it's no fun writing stories, particularly not for me. I just do it in order to sell them and make a couple of bucks.

I definitely want to write some fiction, for sure. I already have half of the next book. I already have it all mapped out. I'm ready. I'm ready to bring it to the world.

When I start to write, I see my stories as a kind of movie. For instance, I ask myself, "What kind of opening do I want for this book?"